PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 15-1982
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF
MULTIJURISDICTION PRACTICE (NAAMJP); MARINNA L. CALLAWAY;
JOSE JEHUDA GARCIA; DALE E. WORKMAN; W. PEYTON GEORGE,
Plaintiffs - Appellants,
v.
LORETTA E. LYNCH, Attorney General; DEBORAH K. CHASANOW,
Chief Judge; RICHARD D. BENNETT, United States District
Court for the District of Maryland; CATHERINE C. BLAKE,
United States District Court for the District of Maryland;
JAMES K. BREDAR, United States District Court for the
District of Maryland; THEODORE D. CHUANG, United States
District Court for the District of Maryland; MARVIN J.
GARBIS, United States District Court for the District of
Maryland; PAUL W. GRIMM, United States District Court for
the District of Maryland; GEORGE J. HAZEL, United States
District Court for the District of Maryland; ELLEN L.
HOLLANDER, United States District Court for the District of
Maryland; PETER J. MESSITTE, United States District Court
for the District of Maryland; FREDERICK J. MOTZ, United
States District Court for the District of Maryland; WILLIAM
M. NICKERSON, United States District Court for the District
of Maryland; WILLIAM D. QUARLES, JR., United States District
Court for the District of Maryland; GEORGE L. RUSSELL, III,
United States District Court for the District of Maryland;
ROGER W. TITUS, United States District Court for the
District of Maryland,
Defendants - Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of
Maryland, at Baltimore. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., United States
District Judge for the Western District of North Carolina,
sitting by designation. (1:14-cv-02110-RJC)
Argued: May 10, 2016 Decided: June 17, 2016
Before FLOYD and THACKER, Circuit Judges, and John A. GIBNEY,
Jr., United States District Judge for the Eastern District of
Virginia, sitting by designation.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Gibney wrote the opinion,
in which Judge Floyd and Judge Thacker joined.
ARGUED: Joseph Robert Giannini, Los Angeles, California, for
Appellants. Brian Paul Hudak, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES
ATTORNEY, Washington, D.C., for Appellees. ON BRIEF: Rod J.
Rosenstein, United States Attorney, Baltimore, Maryland, Alan
Burch, Special Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, Washington, D.C., for Appellees.
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GIBNEY, District Judge:
“‘Membership in the bar is a privilege burdened with
conditions.’” Theard v. United States, 354 U.S. 278, 281 (1957)
(quoting In re Rouss, 221 N.Y. 81, 84, 116 N.E. 782, 783
(1917)). The National Association for the Advancement of
Multijurisdictional Practice and four attorneys (together,
“NAAMJP”) challenge the conditions placed on the privilege of
admission to the Bar of the United States District Court for the
District of Maryland (the “District” or the “District Court”) in
Local Rule 701 (“Rule 701” or the “Rule”). 1 Because Rule 701
violates neither the Constitution nor federal law, we affirm the
district court’s decision.
I. BACKGROUND
Rule 701 governs attorney admission to practice in the
District Court. 2 The Rule contains requirements based on the
state of licensure and, in some instances, the location of the
1 The four attorneys do not qualify for admission to the
District Court under Rule 701. The district court held that
these attorneys have standing, as does NAAMJP as an
organization. We agree.
2 This case focuses on the requirements for general
admission to the District Court Bar, as opposed to admission pro
hac vice (i.e., for a particular case). See Rule 101(1)(b). In
addition, Rule 701 has separate provisions allowing federal
government attorneys to practice in the District. See Rule
701(1)(b).
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attorney’s law office. 3 The Rule allows for admission of
attorneys licensed in the State of Maryland. The Rule also
allows for admission of non-Maryland attorneys if the applying
attorney maintains his or her principal law office in the state
in which he or she is licensed to practice law, as long as the
relevant federal district court in the state of licensure does
not deny admission to Maryland attorneys. In other words,
admission to non-Maryland attorneys extends only to attorneys in
states whose district courts observe reciprocity with the
District Court. Regardless of reciprocity, however, the
District will not admit a non-Maryland attorney if that attorney
maintains a law office in Maryland.
According to the District, the Rule encourages bar
membership in Maryland for attorneys intending to practice
there, and, with its reciprocity provision, encourages other
jurisdictions to adopt liberal licensing standards. Further,
the District contends that the principal law office requirement
ensures effective local supervision of the conduct of attorneys.
In response to these points, NAAMJP spews a slew of bad words to
describe Rule 701, including discriminatory, monopolistic,
balkanizing, and unconstitutional.
3Rule 701 also imposes a handful of standard requirements,
such as “[being] of good private and professional character” and
having familiarity with relevant local and federal rules.
4
NAAMJP sued the Attorney General and each of the judges of
the District Court, challenging the validity of Rule 701. The
defendants moved to dismiss, and NAAMJP moved for summary
judgment. The district court 4 granted the motion to dismiss and
denied NAAMJP’s motion for summary judgment. 5 NAAMJP has
appealed.
II. ANALYSIS
This Court reviews de novo a district court’s decision
granting a motion to dismiss. Sucampo Pharm., Inc. v. Astellas
Pharma, Inc., 471 F.3d 544, 550 (4th Cir. 2006). To survive a
Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a complaint must state facts
that, when accepted as true, “state a claim to relief that is
plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678
(2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570
(2007)). NAAMJP challenges the validity of Rule 701 under the
First Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, the Rules Enabling
Act, and the Supremacy Clause. We address each in turn. 6
4 The Honorable Robert J. Conrad, Jr., of the Western
District of North Carolina, sat by designation to avoid any
potential conflict of interest.
5 NAAMJP has not challenged the district court’s denial of
its challenge under the Due Process Clause.
6 Although NAAMJP cites the Supreme Court’s decision in
Frazier v. Heebe, it does not ask us to strike down Rule 701
based on appellate courts’ supervisory authority over district
courts. 482 U.S. 641, 651 (1987) (Rehnquist, C.J., dissenting).
(Continued)
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A. The First Amendment
The First Amendment prevents the government from “abridging
the freedom of speech . . . or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.” U.S. Const. amend. I. Nevertheless,
the professional speech doctrine allows the government to
“license and regulate those who would provide services to their
clients for compensation without running afoul of the First
Amendment.” Moore-King v. Cnty. of Chesterfield, 708 F.3d 560,
569 (4th Cir. 2013).
Under the professional speech doctrine, courts must
determine the point at which “a measure is no longer a
regulation of a profession but a regulation of speech.” Lowe v.
S.E.C., 472 U.S. 181, 230 (1985) (White, J., concurring in the
judgment). The government may regulate professionals providing
“personalized advice in a private setting to a paying client.”
Moore-King, 708 F.3d at 569; see Lowe, 472 U.S. at 232. In this
context, “the professional’s speech is incidental to the conduct
of the profession,” id., and regulation “raises no First
Even if NAAMJP had made this request, and even if we had that
power, we would not indulge the request, as Rule 701 clearly
passes constitutional muster and is clearly distinguishable from
the local rule struck down in Frazier. See id. at 643 (majority
opinion).
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Amendment problem where it amounts to ‘generally applicable
licensing provisions’ affecting those who practice the
profession,” Moore-King, 708 F.3d at 569 (quoting Lowe, 472 U.S.
at 232). In other words, the First Amendment does not come into
play.
The First Amendment does come into play, however, when the
government tries to control public discourse through the
regulation of a profession. This occurs when a regulation
limits the speech of professionals engaging “in public
discussion and commentary,” id., and not “exercising judgment on
behalf of any particular individual with whose circumstances
[they are] directly acquainted,” Lowe, 472 U.S. at 232. In this
case, regulation “must survive the level of scrutiny demanded by
the First Amendment.” Id. at 230.
In this case, Rule 701 is simply a regulation of a
profession. The Rule does not compel attorneys to speak or
regulate speech based on its content. Neither does the Rule
restrict attorneys from speaking. To the extent it regulates
speech at all, Rule 701 sets conditions for professionals
providing “personalized advice in a private setting to a paying
client.” Moore-King, 708 F.3d at 569. Applying the appropriate
test, Rule 701 qualifies as a generally applicable licensing
provision. It prescribes which attorneys may practice in the
District Court based on their state of licensure in relation to
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the location of their principal law office. Any separate
provisions for specific situations—such as federal government
attorneys—do not change the fact that Rule 701 is a generally
applicable licensing provision. Accordingly, Rule 701 does not
violate the First Amendment. 7
B. The Equal Protection Clause
The Equal Protection Clause prohibits the government from
“deny[ing] to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.” U.S. Const. amend XIV, § 1; see
Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena, 515 U.S. 200, 224 (1995)
(noting that equal protection analysis is the same under the
Fifth Amendment as it is under the Fourteenth Amendment). In
evaluating an equal protection challenge to a rule, courts must
first determine the standard of review to apply. If the rule
neither infringes a fundamental right nor disadvantages a
suspect class, courts apply rational basis review. FCC v. Beach
Commc’ns, Inc., 508 U.S. 307, 313 (1993). Under rational basis
review, the challenged rule “comes . . . bearing a strong
presumption of validity, and those attacking the rationality of
7NAAMJP does not challenge the district court’s holdings
that Rule 701 is neither substantially overbroad nor a prior
restraint on speech, so we will not disturb them. We reject all
other arguments raised by NAAMJP—including speaker
discrimination and violation of the right to free association
and petition—as meritless and utterly inapplicable to Rule 701.
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the [rule] have the burden to negative every conceivable basis
which might support it.” Id. at 314–15 (internal citations
omitted). In other words, “[w]here there are ‘plausible
reasons’ for [the rule], ‘our inquiry is at an end.’” Id. at
313–14 (quoting U.S. R.R. Retirement Bd. v. Fritz, 449 U.S. 166,
179 (1980)).
Rule 701 does not infringe a fundamental right or
disadvantage a suspect class. Applying rational basis review,
Rule 701 clearly passes constitutional muster. The rationales
given by the District to justify the Rule are certainly
plausible, and NAAMJP does not bear its burden in negating them.
Both this and other circuits have upheld these rationales as
reasonable. See Goldfarb v. Supreme Court of Va., 766 F.2d 859,
865 (4th Cir. 1985); Hawkins v. Moss, 503 F.2d 1171, 1177–78
(4th Cir. 1974); see also Nat’l Ass’n for the Advancement of
Multijurisdictional Practice v. Castille, 799 F.3d 216, 219–20
(3d Cir. 2015); Nat’l Ass’n for the Advancement of
Multijurisdictional Practice v. Berch, 773 F.3d 1037, 1045 (9th
Cir. 2014). Accordingly, Rule 701 does not violate the Equal
Protection Clause.
Astonishingly, NAAMJP does not cite a single equal
protection case in its argument that Rule 701 violates the Equal
Protection Clause. See Appellant’s Br. 33–39. In fact, each of
the cases cited by NAAMJP refers to equal protection—if at all—
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only to note that the Court did not reach the equal protection
argument. See Supreme Court of Va. v. Friedman, 487 U.S. 59, 63
n.* (1988); Frazier v. Heebe, 482 U.S. 641, 645 (1987); Supreme
Court of N.H. v. Piper, 470 U.S. 274, 277 n.3 (1985). These
cases provide little to no guidance here, as the bar admission
rules they considered involved residency requirements—which Rule
701 does not—and applied a heightened level of scrutiny—which we
need not.
C. The Rules Enabling Act
The Rules Enabling Act authorizes the judiciary to make
rules. Specifically, 28 U.S.C. § 2071 permits federal courts to
“prescribe rules for the conduct of their business,” with the
stipulation that “[s]uch rules shall be consistent with Acts of
Congress and rules of practice and procedure prescribed under
section 2072 of this title.” The “rules of practice and
procedure prescribed under section 2072 of this title” are rules
adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States, including,
for example, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the
Federal Rules of Evidence.
In enacting Rule 701, the District Court prescribed a rule
“for the conduct of [its] business,” denoting which attorneys
may practice before it. The Rule does not violate any Acts of
Congress or any federal “rules of practice and procedure”
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adopted by the Supreme Court pursuant to § 2072. Thus, Rule 701
does not violate the Rules Enabling Act.
NAAMJP argues that § 2071 “expressly incorporates the
standard set forth in [§] 2072,” Appellant’s Br. 41, which
mandates that “[s]uch rules shall not abridge, enlarge or modify
any substantive right,” 28 U.S.C. § 2072(b). The plain language
of the statute, however, belies NAAMJP’s argument. The phrase
“[s]uch rules” in § 2072(b) clearly refers to the “general rules
of practice and procedure and rules of evidence” that § 2072(a)
permits the Supreme Court to prescribe. Moreover, § 2071’s
reference to § 2072 clearly refers to the “rules of practice and
procedure” that come out of the § 2072 rule-making standard, not
to § 2072’s rule-making standard itself. In other words, the
Rules Enabling Act tells district courts that they cannot use
local rules to contradict the Supreme Court’s rules of
procedure. Consequently, this NAAMJP argument fails. 8
D. The Supremacy Clause
Finally, the Supremacy Clause commands:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the
United States which shall be made in
8 NAAMJP argues that Rule 701 violates Rule 83(a) of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure because Rule 83(a)
“incorporates the 28 U.S.C. § 2072 standard,” Appellant’s Br.
42, restricting rules that “abridge, enlarge or modify any
substantive right,” 28 U.S.C. § 2072. This argument fails for
the same reason that the argument under § 2072 fails.
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Pursuance thereof . . . shall be the supreme
Law of the Land; and the Judges in every
State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in
the Constitution or Laws of any State to the
Contrary notwithstanding.
U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2. In other words, if federal law and
state law conflict, federal law wins. See, e.g., Sperry v.
Florida, 373 U.S. 379, 384–85 (1963) (resolving a conflict
between Florida law and federal law in favor of federal law).
NAAMJP makes the bold—if not borderline frivolous—move to
challenge Rule 701, a federal rule adopted pursuant to a federal
statute. Accordingly, the Supremacy Clause has no bearing.
NAAMJP focuses on the fact that Rule 701 incorporates Maryland
state licensing requirements, but ignores the fact that nothing
prohibits federal law from incorporating state standards. See
Augustine v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, 429 F.3d 1334, 1340
(Fed. Cir. 2005) (citing NLRB v. Natural Gas Util. Dist. Of
Hawkins Cnty., 402 U.S. 600, 603 (1971)). Rule 701 clearly
incorporates state licensing requirements for attorneys in
Maryland and beyond. Rule 701’s use of these state standards,
however, does not transform Rule 701 into a state law. Rule 701
remains a federal rule prescribed pursuant to a federal statute.
Thus, Rule 701 in no way violates the Supremacy Clause.
III. CONCLUSION
To summarize, Rule 701 does not violate the First
Amendment, the Equal Protection Clause, the Rules Enabling Act,
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or the Supremacy Clause. Consequently, we affirm the decision
of the district court in granting the motion to dismiss.
AFFIRMED
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